Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- An Air Force officer who had been in charge of a military unit aimed at preventing sexual assaults made an initial court appearance Thursday on a sexual battery charge but did not enter a plea .

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski , a 1994 graduate of the Air Force Academy who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan , was arrested Sunday for allegedly grabbing a woman 's buttocks and breasts in a parking lot in Arlington County near the Pentagon .

A police report said the unidentified woman fought off her assailant , who appeared intoxicated .

After his appearance Thursday , which lasted less than a minute , the 41-year-old officer made no comments to reporters outside the Arlington County Courthouse . He has been removed from his job leading a branch of the Air Force 's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program .

Survey indicates troubling trend in military sexual assaults

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told Congress on Tuesday that Krusinski is a personnel officer by training and had spent the previous 2.5 years working on Air Force staff in policy .

After taking the position with the sexual assault prevention unit in February , he underwent training aimed at preparing him for his duties , Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. John Dorrian said .

Dorrian said Krusinski 's record was `` exemplary '' and contained nothing that would have precluded him from serving with the unit .

Krusinski served in Iraq from November 2009 to May 2010 and in Afghanistan from August 2011 to February 2012 , earning five non-combat medals during 19 years of service .

Arlington County declined an Air Force request that it allow Krusinski to be prosecuted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice .

Commonwealth 's Attorney Theo Stamos said that her office has `` routinely prosecuted members of the military '' and would do so in this instance as well .

`` The incident occurred in Arlington , not on a military base , '' Stamos told CNN .

`` In my 26 years , I have never been asked by the government to turn over a member of the military . It does n't make any sense , '' Stamos said .

Krusinski 's attorney declined comment .

The arrest came two days before the Pentagon released a report showing a 6 % increase in reported sexual assault cases within the military in the fiscal year that ended last September 30 .

Anonymous survey results collected over a two-year period ending in 2012 indicate that the increase may have been higher than that .

President Barack Obama has said he will not tolerate such conduct and urged the Pentagon to step up its prevention efforts .

CNN 's Larry Lazo contributed to this report

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Lt. Col. Jeffrey Kusinski was arrested over the weekend on a charge of sexual battery

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His court appearance Thursday lasted less than a minute

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He did not enter a plea

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He was branch chief of the Air Force 's Sexual Assault Prevention , Response Program